Uddhav snubs TDP MPs seeking Sena's support on no-trust move

Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday refused to meet Telugu Desam Party MPs who had sought time to visit his Bandra residence. Two MPs visited Mumbai to seek Mr Thackeray’s support on a no-confidence motion against the BJP government in the coming Monsoon Session of the Parliament. The rejection comes at a time when Mr Thackeray’s ties with the BJP are on the verge of a breakdown.

TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu has written a letter to all non-BJP and non-Congress parties seeking their political support.

TDP’s Lok Sabha floor leader Thota Narsimham and another MP, P. Ravindra Babu, was due to meet Mr Thackeray on Sunday evening.

They wanted to seek his support on Andhra Pradesh’s contentious issue of failed assurances given by the Centre. TDP leaders are reaching out to all political parties for their support in the Monsoon Session. Mr Thackeray’s PRO Harshal Pradhan said the Sena chief had not met them.

Interestingly, Mr Thackeray refusing to meet the TDP MPs comes at a time when Sena-BJP relations are not very good. The TDP has already left the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance on the same issue of the Centre failing to meet all the assurances made over the truncated state of Andhra Pradesh. Even then, the TDP chief had appealed to Mr Thackeray to leave the NDA, but this has not happened.

After leaving the NDA, Mr Naidu has been very vocal against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. The Shiv Sena too, despite sharing power with the BJP in the Centre as well as in Maharashtra, is very critical of both governments.

Mr Thackeray has also announced his decision that the Sena would contest the coming elections on its own. But despite this, Mr Thackeray avoided meeting the TDP MPs personally on Sunday.

Mr Naidu, in his letter of appeal to all non-Congress and non-BJP parties, sought support for Andhra’s need for funds for development. “It is unfortunate to note that the BJP-led NDA government has not even respected its own election manifesto of 2014 relating to Seemandhra. Further, the Prime Minister during the election campaigns in Tirupathi and Nellore assured to accord a 10-year special status to Andhra Pradesh and that too has not been implemented,” Mr Naidu said in his letter. Therefore, he sought support for a no-confidence motion against the BJP government.